ALTICOLA 313 



Type locality. — Kumaon {fide Wrougliton) ; given as " India 

 (Cashmere) " by Gray. 



Wroughton (J. Bombay N.H.S., 23, p. 299) has given reasons 

 for believing that Kumaon and not Kashmir is the real type 

 locality of /i . ?oy/ei. He says: " Gray's Indian localities . . . are 

 very often erroneous. A good deal of collecting has been done 

 in recent years in Kashmir, notably by Colonel Ward, [but] no 

 specimen representing roylei has been found. The common vole 

 of Kashmir is M. montosa True {imitator Bonhote). . . . Dr. 

 Royle, who was Superintendent of the Botanical Gardens at 

 Saharanpur, and after whom the species was named, published a 

 book entitled ' Illustrations of the Botany and other branches 

 of the Natural History of the Himalaya Mountains and of the 

 Flora of Cashmere ' (1839). Though he gave his attention to 

 Botany, he also made a collection of Mammals. Mr. Ogilvy, in 

 an appendix . . . wrote a note on the distribution of the Mammals 

 of the Himalayas, based chiefly on this Collection. He . . . refers 

 to an extremely short-tailed rat occurring in the higher ranges of 

 Kumaon, which it seems to me can be no other than our present 

 species, and Gray's type specimen most probably was from the 

 same locality. The type was originally in spirits, and was 

 skinned out comparatively recently; it is now in very poor con- 

 dition, but measurements and skull characters correspond very 

 fairly with our present series " [i.e., those collected in Kumaon by 

 the Mammal Survey]. As stated above I am not prepared to differ 

 from this conclusion of my late friend, notwithstanding the recent 

 discovery of a representative of A. roylei in Lahul on the verge of 

 the Kashmir border. 



Characters. — As described above under the species. Under 

 parts with a strong ru.sty or dull ochraceous suffusion. Tail and 

 ears shorter than in A. r. cautus. Hands and feet less white 

 above. 



For external and cranial measurements, see tables at end of 

 volume. 



Remarhs. — Mr. Crump (J. Bombay N.H.S., 23, p. 299) records 

 that this species was " trapped on the same ground as Apodemus ; 

 both were frequently taken under the same small rock. In 

 Kashmir I observed that Microtus and Apodemus were invariably 

 found on the same ground." 



Material exainined. — Thirty-six. 



4a. Alticola roylei cautus subsp. n. 



Type.—^.lsl., No. 26.3.9.2, original No. 2384; adult male, 

 skin and skull, collected June 6, 1922, by Mr. H. W. Wells, for 

 the Mammal Survey of India ; presented by the Bombay Natural 

 History Society. 



Type locality. — Rahla, Kulu Valley, Lahul. 



Range. — Known only from the vicinitv of the type locality. 

 Altitudes 8500-9200 feet. 



